The truth outs: Nasty rumours about Caroline Kennedy were leaked by former BUSH WHITE HOUSE STAFFER!

[RFKJrNews]

UPDATE: More info on the “PR flack” the Gov’s office is now trying to blame the leak on:

Get this…she’s a former BUSH WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY!!!!

Oh yeah, that explains a lot.

Btw, this story is penned by the NY Daily News’ Elizabeth Benjamin (seen in our story here http://rfkjrforpresident.com/2009/01/24/op-ed-did-ny-govs-office-leak-lies-about-caroline-kennedy/
getting smacked down by Chris Matthews on Hardball for publishing this crap in the first place). Looks like Lizzie is now desperately trying to cover her butt and do the right thing to avoid a libel suit as well:

Anyhoo, here’s the full story. Read it and weep!

From the NY Daily News:

Gov. Paterson’s decision to go nuclear on Caroline Kennedy was a hatchet job run by a pricey out-of-state consultant who specializes in political scandals, disgruntled administration sources said.

Judy Smith, a Washington-based PR guru and former Bush White House deputy press secretary, orchestrated the ill-conceived character attack on Kennedy, sources said Sunday.

There was an internal agreement among Paterson staffers to refrain from attacking Kennedy.

Then came the leaks from inside the governor’s office that Kennedy’s supposed tax, nanny and marital problems had tanked her bid for Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat - taking many staffers by surprise.

“There were radically different statements all coming out of the governor’s camp at the exact same time,” a Paterson adviser said.

The administration released a formal statement insisting no information gathered from candidates for Clinton’s seat led to Kennedy’s withdrawal.

Yet it was Paterson who signed off on Smith’s plan to release dirt on Kennedy, the sources said.

Paterson loyalists are bemoaning his willingness to listen to a hired gun with little knowledge of New York politics, undercutting his own staff and projecting the image of an administration in chaos.

Paterson first brought Smith onboard last fall after his top aide, Charles O’Byrne, resigned in the wake of a tax scandal.

“It’s crazy. This never would have happened when Charles was there,” the adviser said. “In his absence, there’s a power vacuum, and a bunch of people are all doing their own thing.

“This is really, really serious,” the adviser continued. “Permanent damage has been done.”

The adviser suggested a “racial component” was at work when Paterson decided to bring on Smith, the first African-American woman to hold the deputy press secretary position at the White House. She came at the recommendation of Lisa Davis, a celebrity/media attorney who is the governor’s childhood friend.

“People like Lisa and Judy stirred the pot a little bit, and has always felt the Spitzer people didn’t respect him, so when Charles blew up, the governor’s old-time core people rallied around him and felt he needed a team that better reflected who he was,” the source said.

Smith’s client list has included Monica Lewinsky, the family of murdered Washington intern Chandra Levy, Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson, who is battling corruption charges, and scandal-scarred former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry.

Paterson has used campaign cash to pay Smith’s firm, Impact Strategies, $64,367 since October, according to his Jan. 15 filing with the state Board of Elections.

The Kennedy fiasco has brought out the worst in the Paterson administration, revealing an executive chamber that is beset by infighting, lacking in leadership and in desperate need of a staffing shakeup.

“I don’t know who’s in charge there any longer,” one Democratic state senator said.

“David’s like a time bomb.”

And he employs former White House deputy press secretaries as his PR staffers?

What does that say about HIM?

[TomClash]

1. I posted the NYDaily News article yesterday

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3706860&mesg_id=3706860

[Lasher]

8. Isn't the NY Daily News a tabloid?

And why is it that the Judy Smith connection is only mentioned there and in blogs? This might be true but I'm just sayin'.

[RFKJrNews]

12. It is printed because...

the Gov.'s office finally admitted it was Judy, and she's on the payroll for Patterson.

More info here:
http://rfkjrforpresident.com/2009/01/27/nasty-caroline-k-rumors-leaked-by-former-bush-white-house-staffer/

[Bobbieo]

27. When are going to learn not to be so fuckin gullible?

[TomClash]

28. Pretty good on NY politics

Especially Albany.

[jumptheshadow]

60. Tabloid shape, but a decent newspaper

Very good in local news. Veteran beat reporters.

It is not the New York Post.

[RFKJrNews]

13. Thanks, Tom

For helping get the word out.

EXPOSE the liars!

[TomClash]

29. You're welcome - I'm pretty pissed about it

So it's easy. :)

[Dennis Donovan]

2. This sickens me...

x(

[Le Taz Hot]

3. Old news

See Post #1.

[RFKJrNews]

17. We're posting again because

...the MSM still hasn't picked up this story and investigated further. We're not giving up until they do.

Where's Olbermann on this?
Hello, CNN?
How about CBS - where ya at?
NY Times?
Anybodyyyyyyyy?

[Le Taz Hot]

22. Except that you're preaching to the choir.

There are approximately 184,865 stories that the MSM media hasn't picked up. Any perusal of Huffington Post, RawStory, TPM, TPM Muckraker, or any of the other myriad of REAL journalism will tell you the MSM long ago turned into "infotainment" and became irrelevant for those of us who actually pay attention.

[RFKJrNews]

32. Couldn't agree more with ya there

As someone who has worked for 20+ years as a journalist and editor in newsrooms large and small, I know just how true that is.

Infotainment trumps hard news every time.

But hey now...this one's kinda juicy! That's why I'm surprised they're not jumping all over it like the Blago scandal.

Sex, nannies, taxes, Kennedys, Clintons, graft, and corruption...who could ask for anything more?

[Botany]

4. Can we just find an island in the middle of the ocean and ship ...

... all the former "bush staffers" there?

This is not about Kennedy's qualifications but why is the
Governor of N.Y. paying $64 K to a bush thug?

[MiniMe]

6. What about the Marianna's

I hear they prostitute out the women there and they work for slave wages. Thanks Tom DeLay.

[MiniMe]

5. Chris Matthews did a good job on that issue

Flat out told her not to give him rumors, give him facts. Shut her right down. Although I don't always agree with you, you did a good job on that interview.

[Blue Dog Dominion]

35. Matthews remebered that he was a "journalist" for all of 2 seconds?

[RFKJrNews]

38. Indeed. lol:)

Yeah, I was pretty amazed to see Chris actually asking a "hard" question for a change on "Hard" Ball.

[AndyA]

7. Paging Eliot Spitzer: please return to the Governor's mansion!

Paterson is beginning to be a huge disappointment.

Spitzer would be much better.

[RFKJrNews]

34. Hello, Governor Kennedy!

C'mon Caroline, run in 2010.

Obviously, Paterson is on his way out...either he'll get trounced in the next election or perhaps he'll go the way of Blago once it is discovered that he basically sold Hillary's senate seat in return for campaign contributions from Gillibrand's former law firm.

[surrealAmerican]

41. I'd be surprised if any money ...

... (in the form of campaign contributions) changed hands on this one (not stunned, mind you, but surprised). It was likely more about endorsements from other politicians.

[RFKJrNews]

46. Please see post #33

and check the firm's campaign contributions online. Google is your friend.

[Octafish]

9. Gee. Why would these type of CONSERVATIVES hate Caroline Kennedy?

Russ Baker did a good job of chronicling the story in "Family of Secrets."

[Doctor_J]

10. Most of the evil, malevolent events in this country can be traced to the BFEE

This should surprise no one. Hopefully Olbermann will cover it tonight.

[RFKJrNews]

49. What surprises is that

...Olbermann didn't cover it tonight. Neither did anybody else.

The silence is deafening.

In light of the all-Blago-all-day-and-all-night coverage we've had to endure lately, isn't that rather puzzling?

[Uben]

11. What? Don't we like leaks about corruption?

So, it's a democrat.....shouldn't she be treated like any politician? If she's got dirt, that's her fault, and I want everyone scrutinized, not just republicans. We put trust in our politicians, and it's about time we make sure they tow the line!

Just because she's a Kennedy does not give her a pass. If she broke the rules, she pays the price, just like everyone else.

Accountability for EVERY POLITICIAN! I don't care where the info comes from, as long as it is true. We as citizens have an obligation to expose any wrong doings by those we consider for elected offices, regardless of political affilliation.

[RFKJrNews]

15. Actually, Patterson himself now admits the rumors about Caroline have no basis in fact

The state tax office reports finding "no irregularities" in Caroline's taxes. All seems to be in order.

Paterson said yesterday that as far as he knows, Caroline is squeaky clean.

(Of course, that's not what he said last Thursday...now his tune is changing and his memory seems to be improving dramatically.)

So exactly WHO is corrupt?

Hmmm...let's see....my money goes on the former Bush staffer, the NY media, and perhaps the Gov. as well.

Or maybe Paterson just forgot to take his medication for a few days?

[CitizenPatriot]

21. And in fact, for the past 8 years

leaked rumors have been a political strategy employed by our justice department to smear Democrats. Inspector FIne found them guilty of misusing the power for partisan purposes.

For this reason, I am very cautious to believe rumors about Democrats until I learn more.

yes, everyone should be found out if they are lying. However, the pattern in the past 8 years has been that the Republicans were leaking such info to bring down Dems who had the power to expose them.

Gee, Spitzer is a perfect example of that. Right before he exposes them for the subprime mortgage fiasco in an article set to be published, he's discredited due to paying for sex...which they overheard on his phone...why were they listening in the first place? Never explained.

Anyhoo, he got thrown to the curb and crapped on by his own party as we all judged him like a pack of dogs. turns out, he was trying to save us and they wanted him gone.

[dorkulon]

14. I don't get it. All Paterson had to do was pick someone else for the Senate seat.

Why engage in smear tactics as if this were an election? Just pick someone else. Problem solved.

This makes no sense to me.

[RFKJrNews]

19. Well, exactly. It was character assassination after the fact.

Caroline had already quietly withdrawn from the race. Kneecapping her after the fact is not only uncalled for an unnecessary, it's low, low, low.

Reprehensible.

[dorkulon]

20. But--even is she hadn't dropped out....

he still just had to pick someone else. No matter how hard she lobbied for the position, he just could have picked someone else and said, "well it was a hard decision blah blah, but so-and-so is the most qualified and best for the future of NY blah blah." This was just totally unnecessary.

[RFKJrNews]

24. AND he didn't have to wait 55 frickin' days to make a decision

...leaving the people of NY without full representation in the U.S. senate at a time when the state's budget is in crisis, jobs are being lost by the tens of thousands, Wall Street is imploding, and the nation is experiencing the worst economic crisis since the great Depression...is just f---ked up beyond belief.

The people of NYS deserve better leadership and representation than this, for the confiscatory tax rate they pay.

Taxation without representation is TYRANNY!

[glitch]

31. They obviously view her as a future threat and want to nip that in the bud. nt

[RFKJrNews]

39. Caroline Kennedy Will Have Her Revenge On NYS (and Judy Smith)

Perhaps Kurt Cobain said it best:

FRANCES FARMER WILL HAVE HER REVENGE ON SEATTLE
(Dedicated to Judy Smith, David Paterson, the NY tabloids, et al.)

It's so relieving to know that you're leaving as soon as you get paid
It's so relaxing to hear you're asking whatever you get your way
It's so soothing to know that you'll sue me,
this is starting to sound the same
I miss the comfort in being sad
In a false witness, we hope you're still with us,
to see if they float or drown
Our favorite patient, display of patience,
disease-covered Puget Sound
She'll come back as fire, to burn all the liars,
and leave a blanket of ash on the ground

[burythehatchet]

16. Can someone tell me what useful purpose a public relations firm serves?

As far as I can tell, they are hired liars, paid to make a liar look not so bad.

[RFKJrNews]

25. Why to ratfuck, of course!

Just for the sheer fun of it!

(Oh, and a nice chunk of change, too. $64k paid to this PR mercenary just since October.)

Nice work if you can get it in this economy, I suppose.

[acmavm]

18. this is funny:

<snip>

"...people rallied around him and felt he needed a team that better reflected who he was."

<snip>

He shoulda hired Rove apparently

[Tatiana]

23. I'm starting to think Spitz should have tried to weather the storm. n/t

[RFKJrNews]

26. Funny timing of that Spitzer scandal, too...dont'cha think?

Just when he was about to expose the criminals on Wall St., somebody starts listening to his phone calls and catches him in a honey trap.

Things that make ya go, "hmmmmm....."

[dorkulon]

30. It's obvious people had it in for Spitzer, but it's not like he didn't do the things he was accused

of. A guy as smart as Spitzer should have known better. I don't care about the morality of it, frankly, but man it was stupid of him.

That said, now we have an unelected governor appointing an unelected senator. What a state!

[Tatiana]

37. Oh it wasn't funny. It was clearly intentional.

Whatever Spitz was working on was big. I hate that he put himself in the position to be caught up, but he's human, like the rest of us. Look at how Blago is fighting in Illinois. I think Spitz would have had a better shot at hanging on to the governor's seat.

[JackRiddler]

43. On this, we certainly agree!

[RFKJrNews]

33. The truth of the matter is...

...that not only did Paterson know who the source of the leak was (Judy Smith), but that Paterson was the only person in a position to have given the information to the leaker.

That’s because all the disclosure documents that were handed over by Kennedy were given to Paterson’s legal counsel’s office, which is under a professional obligation of secrecy.

The counsel then passed whatever might have been damaging in the records on to Paterson.

The information on Kennedy leaked hours later to news organizations with the understanding the source was someone “close to the governor.”

But just in case anyone thinks he deserves the benefit of the doubt, he doesn’t.

That’s because Paterson’s latest denials are merely the latest installment in a long series of lies told by the governor that many in government have started to call pathological.

Another interesting fact: Kirsten Gillibrand (a “favorite” of Chuckie Schumer) once worked for both D’Amato and Andrew Cuomo, another candidate for the senate seat(and former Kennedy in-law, but that’s another long and gory story). She was a special counsel when Cuomo ran HUD in the 1990s and her father was close to both Senator D’Amato and Governor Mario Cuomo in the same time period. Her former law firm, Boies, Schiller & Flexner, has been the largest single donor to her House campaigns, and David Boies, the senior partner at the firm, contributed $25,000 to Paterson’s campaign committee on December 23, 2008, while the governor was considering Gillibrand’s candidacy. Boies’ son Chris, also a partner in the firm, contributed another $25,000 on the same day.

That being the case, wouldn’t this make Paterson guilty of doing the exact same thing that Blago is currently being accused of?

I can hear that phone call now: “This is bleepin’ GOLDEN! I’m not just gonna give that bleepin’ senate seat away!”

For all that talk of how loaded Caroline Kennedy is (and Caroline is indeed quite well off), I guess she just was’nt quite ready to grease the Governor’s sweaty palms and become embroiled in a graft/corruption scandal.

If so, good on her.

[RFKJrNews]

36. It is also interesting to note that Bush/Paterson PR flack

Judy Smith's list of former clients also includes Larry Craig (after that little ahem, foot-tapping bathroom incident) and former Detroit mayor/new inmate Kwame Kilpatrick.

not to mention Monica Lewinsky.

Ms. Smith seems to have a thing for sex scandals....anyone looked into Ms. Smith's private life?

Might be something juicy there. Let's see how she likes having her dirty laundry spilled all over the front pages in red ink!

[struggle4progress]

40. Wow. Judy Smith has been around a while and has been near lots of scandals:

She handled "communication" associated with the Iran-Contra affair and later represented a certain Monica. After serving as Deputy White House Press Secretary under Bush the First, she got in on the ground floor at Qorvis, but later beat a hasty retreat from Qorvis when the Bushistas started investigating the firm for compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act

http://www.impactstrategiesllc.com/bios/Judy%20Smith.html
http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/company-structures-ownership/6486230-1.html
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Qorvis_Communications

[RFKJrNews]

45. And get this...now Paterson claims he STILL doesn't know who the leaker is!

Even tho' the news (and Judy Smith's name) is spreading like wildfire.

Boy, not only is he blind, he's deaf and dumb, too.

From Newsday:

ALBANY, N.Y. - "New York Gov. David Paterson says he ordered his top aide to stop leaks from the governor's office, but he won't pursue the source of unsubstantiated personal accusations leaked about Caroline Kennedy after she abruptly withdrew from the field seeking appointment to the U.S. Senate.

During a news conference Tuesday that included some reporters who know the identity of the anonymous source, Paterson said he wouldn't try to find out who released the unproven claims Kennedy had problems with taxes, payments to a nanny and press scrutiny of problems in her marriage.

He wouldn't respond when asked if he would submit his top staffers to a lie detector test."

Gee...because they'd get CAUGHT? Ya don't say!!!!

[JackRiddler]

42. Woeful misrepresentation. CK campaign lived and died by the PR hack - What about Isay?

Caroline Kennedy and the media treated the contest for Paterson's brain as though it were an election campaign. The massive PR offensive on her behalf was unprecedented and, clearly, a touch too obvious. The media declared her selection inevitable on the apparent basis of nothing other than her name and their desire for celebrity coverage. Bloomberg aide Kevin Sheekey typified the public strong-arming of Paterson with his declaration that not picking Kennedy would amount to "political malpractice." It's little wonder the hapless governor reached for his own bag of dirty tricks, in defense of his right to choose as anchored in a faulty state constitution.

Then, I say, there was this Isay character, the former Lieberman hitman employed by Kennedy (see below). When I saw the headline, "Hired PR gun doomed Caroline" (yesterday), my first thought was that the story must be about how her team's shameless public pressure campaign backfired on her. As the flood of meaningless media stories about Caroline went on for weeks and weeks, it was natural that they inspired a fully justified and widespread resentment, not just in Paterson's circle, but within my own: the Non-Dynastic Schlubs of Queens, each of us secure in the hubris that as smart people with no prior political career, we had the exact same qualifications to be the next Senator from New York as the Kennedy daughter.

Gillebrand on the surface may appear less progressive than CK's image, but of course all we had with CK was image, not a voting record or even a campaign on which she could be judged. Elected in 2006, Gillebrand did show integrity on the most important single measure of the outgoing Congress, twice casting a NO vote on the Paulson plunder plan. By contrast, we may never know for sure if the heiress known primarily for her behind-the-scenes fundraising and influence-taking would have stood for or against the billionaires' bailout.

Following from:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=printer_friendly&forum=389&topic_id=4661291

Caroline Kennedy Hires Joe Lieberman’s “Fixer,” Josh Isay
By: Jane Hamsher Tuesday December 16, 2008 7:01 am


In her first move after announcing that she would like to be appointed to the New York Senate seat, Caroline Kennedy has hired "major Democratic fixer Josh Isay." Isay did the honors for Joe Lieberman during his general election race against Ned Lamont, after Lieberman withdrew from the Democratic party and ran as a member of the "Connecticut for Lieberman" party.

Of course, at the time Lieberman was getting hammered in the polls by Lamont, and needed to quickly change his rhetoric or risk a loss in Connecticut where the anti-war sentiment was strong. The month after he was re-elected to the Senate, Lieberman called for an immediate increase of 15,000-30,000 troops.

Isay's ads were critical in deceiving voters and paving the way for Lieberman's reelection. Now that it's clear where Lieberman really stands, Daily Kos polling indicates Lamont would overwhelmingly defeat Lieberman.

It's telling that Caroline Kennedy has never wanted to run for office, and never thought to put her case before the public when she decided she wanted this job. Her first move was to pick up the phone and start working the elites, then hire a political fixer whose specialty is deceiving voters.

Original Isay report:
http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/16/caroline-kennedy-hires-joe-liebermans-fixer-josh-isay


Poem for Caroline Kennedy

How it was Meant to Be

The Lilliput Horns blasted songs
As the Accidental Governor,
Son-of-Basil-Paterson,
Successor to the Spitz
Chose Daughter-of-JFK,
Subtlest Mistress of the Fix
To replace Wife-of-Clinton
With a nod from Mayor Billionaire
Owner-of-the-Machine
Who with a wave does Stadia raise
And Himself to third terms hoists
Far above such base impedimenta
as the vote in Rabble's Referenda,
The Cartel oozing with daily praise
Eating the air from My Brain.

Oops.

---

Current mean thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4913444&mesg_id=4913444

[RFKJrNews]

44. This from Gawker today

“Journalism is complicated. New York Post statehouse hack-in-chief Fred Dicker has been leading the pack in Caroline Kennedy-related anonymous smear stories. And now he’s basically outing his own anonymous source, to criticize the Governor. What?

Dicker had an anonymous source close to the governor tell him all about the various problems Kennedy had, and why Governor Paterson never would have picked her. Dicker dutifully wrote all this up last weekend. Now, Paterson, naturally, says he doesn’t know where that leak came from. Obviously he’s lying, but the usual procedure is for the reporter on stories like this to keep his fucking mouth shut, since yes, he knows who the leaker is and where he got his information, but he granted the leaker anonymity, so it’s bad form to scoff at official pronouncements or otherwise do things that would point to the identity of the source.

Dicker says fuck that!

“Gov. Paterson yesterday insisted he had no idea who did the slime job on Caroline Kennedy - although the source of the information is about as close to him during the day as his wife is at night.

He’s a liar.

The person responsible for the smear was an individual whose identity is well known to the press, whose full-time job is to do the governor’s bidding, and who is intelligent enough not to call reporters to damage Kennedy’s reputation without approval from the top - and that means Paterson.”

Ha, this would be a great and upstanding story were it not for the fact that Dicker’s own paper gave that source anonymity! Way to protect your sources, dude. Anyhow the Daily News already reported yesterday that the likely culprit behind the Kennedy attacks is Judy Smith, a flack close to the governor. The Post was just catching up to its own story. So weird. “

Source:

http://gawker.com/5140057/caroline-kennedy-smear-journalism-goes-bizarro

[JackRiddler]

47. By the way, I support RFK Jr. He should have been the one...

And nothing against Caroline personally - but that "campaign" was a media creature and died as one.

[RFKJrNews]

51. Thank you for your support of RFK Jr.

But the real story here (which the media is NOT covering) is not Caroline's poorly-managed campaign, her withdrawl from consideration, or even who leaked the lies about her.

The REAL question the media needs to be asking is:

WAS THERE A PAY-FOR-PLAY SCHEME IN THE NY SENATE SEAT PICK?

Based on our initial investigation, the answer is a big fat YES.

And yet, all they blather about is Blago. On and on and on....all Blago, all the time.

Blago is being impeached for even suggesting such a transaction (even though the transaction was never actually completed).
Paterson did accept $50,000 from Gillibrand's former law firm on Dec. 23, 2008, while the race was still very much on.
Paterson did wind up appointing Gillibrand, thus completing the transaction.

Now if that ain't pay-to-play, I don't know what is.

It's illegal, it should be proven, and Paterson should be impeached. Period.

This also calls the legitimacy of Gillibrand's senate appointment into question. Why didn't senate Democrats make a big fuss over seating her like they did with Roland Burris (who apparently made *no* suspicious contributions to Blagojevich's coffers)?

Learn more of the backstory here:
http://thekennedys.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/pay-to-play-scheme-in-ny-senate-seat-pick/

[JackRiddler]

53. Sorry, RFKJrNews, it's hard to take you seriously on this.

You're a very committed partisan on behalf of someone whose central activity in politics so far has been as a fundraiser within her own class of the super-rich.

I agree with your take about the endless Blago blather, since his proposed Senate "transaction" was the disgusting business as usual of American politics. This is notwithstanding any of the other accusations against him; fact is, the Senate business is what's got everyone's attention, and the reason for that in my view is: He was too vulgar about it on tape! (Not that he knew it was being recorded.)

Not like Caroline, who was supposed to sail through in the most general form of pay-to-play: merely for the fact of her dynastic riches and celebrity glow and substantial past services to the party as a fundraiser, without needing to put up a specific payment to her appointer.

Why would Paterson taking a legal pay-off to his campaign fund be worse than Paterson caving in to CK's (equally legal) media-PR pressure campaign?

It boils down to this: These transactions are generally legal! People pay cash into politicians' warchests, and they get favors in exchange. That is how it is done, and it is very bad. It will not be fixed by prosecuting Blago (though he probably should be prosecuted, AFAIK), or pursuing your proposed revenge against Paterson and Gillebrand. (That would be wrong, but also a total distraction and probably bring a Republican governor to Albany in 2010, by the way.)

It will only change when we the people stop pretending, ban the money from politics, institute public campaign finance and give free media time to all candidates on a ballot. Until then, your post very much comes across as that of a player on a team who hates the other team, but isn't going to question the legitimacy of the bloody sport.

[RFKJrNews]

55. While I certainly make no apologies for being a Kennedy partisan

this isn't about Caroline. It's about lies, graft, and corruption. Those things I do despise, and I make no apologies for that, either. Nor will I make excuses to justify reprehensible behaviour.

If you want to make this about Caroline, however, I will point out the following four stubborn facts:

1) In 10 years, the only political contribution Kennedy has made was a $1000 check in a NYC city council race.
2) Gov. Paterson has openly admitted that he found nothing irregular in her disclosure forms that would have prevented her from being a senator. Clean as a whistle.
3) The NY tax office can find nothing irregular in her tax records, nor can the media or anyone else find anything to substantiate the rumors of problems with her household help or her marriage.
4) Caroline did not volunteer to go on a media tour of NYS. Gov. Paterson instructed her to do just that, basically telling her that if she wanted the job, she'd have to audition for it by jumping through hoops and doing a little tap dance show for his amusement.

As for Caroline's "dynastic riches and celebrity glow," she didn't get to choose her parents or the family she was going to be born into. Nor did she expect that she'd lose her father and uncle to brutal assassinations and her only sibling in a plane crash. Unlike a movie star or rock star, she never asked to be a celebrity or put herself out there in the spotlight. She studiously avoided it for most of her years. Given the circumstances life has handed her, I'd say she's handled it all as well as any reasonable person could expect. She's done the best with the cards she was dealt. If you're going to chastize her for being a member of the lucky DNA club, you might want to stop and re-assess that point of view. Money and fame do not buy happiness, or even success, and honestly, being a Kennedy is not always a "lucky" thing, if ya know what I mean.

Do you know how many stalkers and death threats this woman has had to live with practically since the day she was born?
Would you like to go thru your life being hounded by the press every time you stepped outside your door?
Would you like to live under that kind of intense scrutiny, with every little thing you do being fodder for the gossip rags?
Would you like to have to go thru life questioning the motives of every person who approaches you, not knowing if they are friend or foe? Could you learn to trust anyone?
Would you like to carry the weight of a political dynasty on your shoulders?
Lastly, would you like to try for a senate seat in New York? Anyone who throws their hat in that ring can expect to take a beating (although in Caroline's case, it was more like a brutal gang rape), so if you think you can do it better, be my guest.

Just some food for thought, hon.' Nothing personal.

[JackRiddler]

58. No, it's definitely nothing personal here.

1) In 10 years, the only political contribution Kennedy has made was a $1000 check in a NYC city council race.
2) ... Clean as a whistle.
3) ... nothing irregular in her tax records ...

I'm sure that's all true, and also not relevant.

But please don't be disingenuous wrt to your point 1: What she arranges in fundraising from others dwarfs whatever small change she puts her name on, and you know it.

As for Caroline's "dynastic riches and celebrity glow," she didn't get to choose her parents or the family she was going to be born into.

Absolutely true. And yet without these factors, we wouldn't be having this discussion, and possibly neither of us would have ever heard of her, and she certainly wouldn't have been even remotely under consideration for a Senate seat, or advanced as the inevitable natural-law choice for the appointment, or promoted as such in every single organ of the media for two months in a coordinated PR campaign. (And I shouldn't have to apologize for pointing out the obvious, as though I am blaming her for her birth whether lucky or unlucky.)

Her team chose to start that campaign and run it at a high profile with public pressure tactics, which was unprecedented for an appointment, and they overdid it, and they tried twisting Paterson's arm. He outlasted them, and maybe resorted to a few dirty tricks in doing so, and the Kennedy media campaign backfired through over-exposure, and the whole thing imploded.

As for the rest of what you say, it all makes her sympathetic, but none of it is an argument for her appointment to the Senate. And brutal as politics is, there's no call for comparing someone who entered willingly (if at a very, very ill-advised time) and met very usual obstacles with the victim of a "gang rape"! And if you think the rumors about Caroline were exaggerated and unfair, what are you doing with flat-out accusations of crime in Paterson's case? (For what? Accepting a legal campaign contribution? Please.)

Lastly, would you like to try for a senate seat in New York?

Absolutely! Give me the 10 million dollar minimum in personal disposable funds for this purpose that are necessary to start from scratch and have any chance, which CK would have also had at her disposal (absolute minimum) in 2010.

However, when we say "try," I hope you mean in the way everyone else tries: by campaigning for votes in an election, not by having the corporate media announce my inevitable choice via appointment as though it were my divine right.

Please leave aside the sour grapes now.

.

[RFKJrNews]

59. Glad to hear you're running in 2010!

Best of luck to you, although I don't think anyone is going to give you $10 million dollars. You'll have to get out there and raise it yourself in dribs and drabs, abiding by the state's laws on campaign financing, presumably just like everybody else.

As for your argument that Caroline should have run in an open election if she wanted the senate seat, sure, that would have been great...IF THERE HAD BEEN AN OPEN ELECTION FOR HILLARY'S SEAT!

But there was not. State law gave the power of appointment to the Governor, and anyone who was interested threw their hat in the ring. If you wanted to be considered, you too could have easily called the Guv's office and said, "count me in!"

Of course, we can debate all day long the merits of election vs. appointment, and perhaps the law will be changed after this debacle. I certainly hope so. But at the time, the law was what it was...and Caroline abided by it.

And please don't blame Caroline for the way the media jumped all over the story when she announced her interest in the seat. The media can't resist a story like that. What did you expect them to do, ignore the daughter of JFK?

I would also like to direct your attention to point #4 in my previous post. The media tour was not Caroline's idea, it was done at Paterson's request/demand. He asked her to dance for him, just like a horny patron at a strip club would. It was all for the Governor's amusement, and a useful stall tactic while he basked in the media spotlight and sold the senate seat to the highest bidder behind-the-scenes.

The way Paterson used Caroline to further his own ambitions was a disgrace. And kneecapping her after she withdrew her name from consideration proved just what a spiteful, petty little liar this man really is.

But hey, if that's your kinda guy, I hear he's looking for a running mate in 2010.

[MassNssen]

48. This is old news.

This is old news.

[RFKJrNews]

50. The latest news today is that Paterson

is now saying he won't bother to "hunt down" or "discipline" the PR flack who leaked these damaging rumors about Kennedy. And furthermore, Paterson is STILL trying to claim (golly gee whiz!) he has "no idea" who the little leaker might be.

Fred Dicker of the Post called him a liar, straight up. And of course, Dicker knows the source (Judy Smith) because he took her calls and printed the unsubstantiated garbage she gave him:

"Gov. Paterson yesterday insisted he had no idea who did the slime job on Caroline Kennedy - although the source of the information is about as close to him during the day as his wife is at night."

In this article, with those carefully-chosen words, Dicker strongly implies the real reason why Gov. Paterson won't bother to punish Ms. Smith: because he's sleeping with her!?!?!?

Would anybody be surprised, considering that Paterson has slept with half the female population of New York?

Oh, and he's screwing the people, too -- lest we forget that.

So I guess that means he's actually f---ed the entire population of NYS.

[Cetacea]

52. And people think Chicago is bad. n/t

[jmg257]

54. Can't tell if the rumours are true - DOES she have issues as described?

Nanny, affair, taxes etc.? Are the negative stories real or not?

[RFKJrNews]

56. Please see post #55 for the answer

n/t

[jmg257]

57. Thanks! nt

[RFKJrNews]

61. You're welcome

My pleasure!:)